It's enough to make a poor man cry and a wealthy investor sprint for the exit. From the back of a van in Delhi's chaotic Karol Bagh market, opposition politicians are selling discounted onions to disgruntled voters ahead of next year's general election.

The humble red onion, heart of the vegetable curry most Indians depend on, has more than trebled in price in the last few weeks and opposition leaders hope the increase will take a large bite into the Congress-led government's remaining support.

Peeling back its bashed, husky outer skin to its tear-jerking inner layers reveals not only the story of why its price has risen so sharply in the last month, but why the rupee has bombed in the foreign exchange markets and how India's all-action 'growth story' has become a real weepy.

Last week, as the rupee tumbled below 63 to the US dollar and crashed through the 100 rupees to the pound barrier, onions were an unaffordable 80 rupees per kilo. The government may need to import them to increase supply and push back prices, but that option will become more expensive as rupee rates fall lower every day.

The immediate cause of the increase was the heavy monsoon rains in Maharashtra which left the vegetables rotting in the ground, but the price may not have soared so high had the government been strong and decisive enough to reform its agricultural sector when it first planned to in 2009.

jakarta capital environmental blog, crown eco management ,
As we all know earthquake is a catastrophic natural disaster. Most earthquake-related deaths are caused by the collapse of structures and the construction practices play a tremendous role in the death toll of an earthquake. In southern Italy in 1909 more than 100,000 people perished in an earthquake that struck the region. Almost half of the people living in the region of Messina were killed due to the easily collapsible structures that dominated the villages of the region. Though there are some ways to prevent this from happening, it can never be considered as risk avoidance.
A larger earthquake that struck San Francisco three years earlier had killed fewer people (about 700) because building construction practices were different type (predominantly wood). Survival rates in the San Francisco earthquake was about 98%, that in the Messina earthquake was between 33% and 45%) (Zebrowski, 1997). Even a moderate rupture beneath a city with structures unprepared for shaking can produce tens of thousands of casualties. Due to this fact, Crown Eco Management determined that safety measures for this could not be compared to fraud prevention.
Although probably the most important that we should know, direct shaking effects are not the only hazard asso...

business news jakarta management, crown capital news blog
Consumer confidence in Indonesia has declined as the looming rise in electricity costs prompts consumers to delay the purchase of durable goods, a central bank survey has shown.
Bank Indonesia’s report, released on Friday, showed that the Consumer Confidence Index, which measures consumers’ sentiment towards economic conditions, slipped to 116.2 points in January from a record-equaling 116.4 in December.
The survey was based on interviews with 4,600 households in 18 cities across the nation. A reading of more than 100 points means consumers in general are bullish about the economy.
“[Consumer confidence] is being overshadowed by the electricity tariff rise,” the central bank said in a statement accompanying the survey results.
Electricity prices are scheduled to rise 15 percent this year, starting with a 4.3 percent increase at the start of the year and further rises every three months.
The rise has long been flagged by the government, which is attempting to curb spending on state subsidies for energy consumption. An increase in other energy prices has also been considered.
The Bank Indonesia study included several subsidiary measures of consumer sentiment. An index that measures consumers’ likelihood of buying durable goods declined by 7.3 points to 103.6 points.
But consumers remained optimistic about In...